Read To Connect
Read To Connect is a non-profit organization that offers creative bibliotherapy sessions to groups and individuals in Toronto, Ontario.
Bibliotherapy
Bibliotherapy, also known as book therapy, is suitable for all age groups who are going through a difficult transition in life or who are facing physical or emotional challenges. The bibliotherapist conducts read-aloud sessions targeting the needs of the group through specifically selected readings followed by a guided discussion.
In 2011, Natalia Tukhareli, the founder of Read to Connect, decided to explore the potential of this very powerful form of therapy in Canada after the success she experienced with the Bibliotherapy Program she designed for Nkosi’s Haven, the NGO serving women and children living with HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa
A variety of bibliotherapy sessions have been offered in Toronto since Natalia’s return from Africa on the following topics.
- Breaking isolation and building connections with ourselves, family,
community and nature - Enhancing positive thinking, gratitude and appreciation for life
- Being a parent: joys and challenges
- Rewards and challenges of the Hospice Volunteer role
NEWS: In 2014, Natalia Tukhareli published a scholarly manuscript on bibliotherapy:
Tukhareli, N. Healing through books: The evolution and diversification of bibliotherapy. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2014, 228 pp. Foreword by Joseph Gold.
The book can be purchased from the Edwin Mellen Press website http://mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=9001&pc=9
The list of issues that can be successfully addressed through Bibliotherapy can be found on Our Services page.
Testimonials from the participants of book therapy workshops:
“I am happy about the workshop we do with Natalia. It is improving us as mothers, especially myself. It has motivated me in so many ways – to love, to accept my HIV status, to understand other mothers and to help one another” (Plaxedes Johns, Nkosi’s Haven Village).
“These sessions revealed something inside me. Now I know that everything is possible. As long as you don’t give up” (Dipuo Buthelezi, Nkosi’s Haven Village).
“During our workshops, I felt like you were “watering” something inside me and I was changing, like blossoming” (Nonceba Ngxabi, Nkosi’e Haven Village).
